A new test useful in identifying red cells with a (delta-alpha) hybrid sialoglycoprotein

St(a+) and Dantu+ red cells (RBCs), treated with 0.1 percent ficin solutions, reacted strongly with Vicia graminea lectin (anti-NVg). No other RBC sample tested gave these results. This test (ficin-pretreated RBCs tested with anti-NVg [FT-NVg]) was used to screen the RBCs of 300 Oriental and 100 black donors. Three percent of the Oriental donor samples tested were FT-NVg+, whereas no FT-NVg + RBCs were found in the black donor samples tested. The FT-NVg test is easy to perform and gives selective reactions with antigens associated with (delta-alpha) hybrid sialoglycoproteins, such as Sta and Dantu. This test can be used for mass screening of RBCs in a search for St(a+) or Dantu+ RBCs. Another application of the FT-NVg test would be to screen RBCs suspected of having a low-incidence antigen before using scarce anti-Sta and -Dantu reagents.